Umthethois an ancient African word meaning a proclamation or authoritative command that sets in motion specified conditions and associated actions for achieving a desired end which, once successfully adopted, becomes customary ethos or law.

J.R.GODDARD CONTRACTING

J R G – OUR UMTHETHO

OUR UMTHETHO is embraced in our motto “Jabulani Kuphela”.

J.R. Goddard Contracting (or just J R G) is wholly owned and managed by Jim Goddard, the founder of the business.

It is also wholly Zimbabwean, and will remain so.

Jim bought his father’s business in 1981, at the start of the new Zimbabwe, and it is his father’s “Umthetho” – his vision – that has seen the business grow from a small dam building business employing some 100 men and women to the largest privately owned Civils contracting business in Zimbabwe with over 1600 employees, 37 years later.

With some 180 earth-moving machines, on over 20 contract sites, J R G Manpower move in excess of 2.2 million tonnes of solid ground and blasted rock per month. It is an outstanding achievement.

As both Father and Son have emphatically insisted over the years:

“It’s all about the Men and Women. They are not employees; they are part of the family. Without them, there is no business. If our employees are not happy, then there is no true success. Hence our motto “Jabulani Kuphela”, which in essence means “Happiness only”. What else in Life can one truly ask for?”

OUR BUSINESS UMTHETHO embodies our ethos. J R G jealously guards its principles of integrity, hard work, discipline, passion, and especially commitment to its employers and staff, and to the contracts and projects in which it is involved. The timeous completion of all contracts and projects at a fair and affordable rate, guaranteeing customer and company satisfaction, and a continuity of future work for all, are the results we continuously strive for.

OUR COMMUNITY UMTHETHO is always foremost in our minds. J R G is an ethical business with highly professional standards. J R G is a leader in our Zimbabwean community where we energize and empower all individuals that pass through our sphere of influence. As we uplift and better our own staff with our values of integrity, hard work, discipline, passion, and especially commitment, we believe these traits will instill themselves in the families and communities of our employees and become an integral part of the development of Zimbabwe – this, we truly believe, is the best way forward.

OUR CONSERVATION UMTHETHO echoes our social commitment – without a beautiful, sustainable land to live in, there can be no happiness. The conservation and enhancement of our natural environment, a place for all humans and animals to live together in harmony, is foremost in our minds when involved in the necessary degradation of the environment to extract from earth’s bosom the abundance of minerals hidden within. Once extracted, we take inordinate pride in rehabilitating nature, and leaving behind a negligible carbon footprint.

As a wholly sustainable enterprise, J R G creates jobs, generates wealth and opportunity, encourages health, safety, security and education for individuals, within established family groups, and amongst communities, encourages and fosters a balanced eco-system, and ultimately invests in a stable future for our Zimbabwe.